The post about #sunroofselfies, sports nutrition and running to Mississauga

My #sunroofselfies from last week.

• Almost everyday I do a little feature on Instagram and Twitter called #sunroofselfie. It's actually a legit hashtag and my photos often get liked or favorited by an account called Sunroof Selfie from Istanbul. That's sorta cool. And I like showing off my frugal fashion sense. If you've been following me for a while you know that I love a good bargain. Especially when it comes to clothing. It all started when I began losing weight and my size was changing so frequently. I couldn't bring myself to pay full price for clothes that I would only be wearing for a month or two. Desperation and lack of funds brought me to my very first Value Village. 
• I know some people have reservations about wearing other people's clothing. Me, not so much. It does have that special VV smell when you get it home. Nothing a couple spins in the washer won't fix. So necessity brought me there. Cheap clothes that are name brand kept me there. I have rules when it comes to clothing and accessories. I don't play more than $10 for anything unless it's genuine leather. So pants, tops, sweaters, bags, shoes...everything. And that rule goes for new or used. I will make a few exceptions on new if it's a few bucks more, but I try to stick to my rule. Anything I see new that I love will be a fraction of the price at the end of season and I am patient. And I'm confident that even if I buy a summer dress in November, it will fit me when summer rolls around again. It has to because I refuse to gain any weight back. 
• So in the #sunrooselfies above, I am wearing my frugal fashion finds. To be fair, some of it was bought with my $1000 gift card I got from being on the Steven and Chris show a couple years ago. But even then I waited until things went on sale because I could buy more. And I still stuck to my rule with the exception of a few pieces of clothing. That gift card lasted me more than a year. And the leather? The brown jacket was gifted to me, the black grommet one was $12 at VV, the red Danier leather one was $12 at VV. 
• When I weighed 300+ pounds, I wore what was comfortable and could fit. That is all. Now I can actually purchase clothes I like. And part of the fun for me is spending hours in VV looking for treasures. It takes time for sure and I only go a couple times a month. I'll spend $50 and come out with 5 pieces of clothing. But it's worth it because they will be five really nice pieces of clothing from labels I can't afford new.

Meals from last week...and $70 worth of sports nutrition.

• I ate well last week. Made some crock pot meals, stir-fries, and an old favorite...salmon cakes. Haven't had those in a while and they were delish. Recipe is under the recipe tab of my blog in the Paleo section. Big cans of salmon were on sale at Freshco this week. So I stocked up. A great goto meal and easy to do. 
• A week ago I swore off fruit, nuts and wine. Still on my never ending quest to get a touch leaner in my hip and ass area. The nuts can especially be a problem for me. In reflection I have altered my edict. I will not have fruit or nuts over the next month or more, and I will only drink wine on the weekend. I need something for the love of Pete. Yeah, I'm weak. And human. And maybe I should purchase a scale so I can actually see numbers instead of going by how my smallest jeans fit. Now there's a thought.
• Since I'm getting into long distance again for my weekend runs (15+K), I needed to buy some sports nutrition. Sportive and electrolyte gummies (or gels work too). I can't eat before I run. Even if it is a long run. That's when I drink the sportive. Right before I leave. Two scoops actually gives me the energy I need to run for a couple hours. And if I'm feeling peckish, the gels come in handy and help me finish. I'm famished afterwards, but the very expensive sports nutrition is worth the money so I can get it done. And to be fair, the $70 I spent, should last me a couple months of long runs at least!

Last weeks runs equals the distance from Hamilton to Mississauga...47+K.

• I ran 18K this past Sunday. A good run overall. I'm always, ALWAYS anxious before a long run because I know my toes are going to cramp. And Sunday did not disappoint. My toes cramped badly at 13K. And I know the drill. Once they cramp, I run through the cramps until the pain becomes numb. It's still there, but I guess I just get used to it. I've run 30K with cramped toes from the 7K mark (this past March). Yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment. And maybe I shouldn't be running long distance. But I can still do it, so I will. I'd love to run pain free just once though to see how that would feel at the end. Imagine just having tired muscles instead of tired muscles with feet that feel like I just ran over open switch blades. That would be awesome. And those of you that don't run probably think I'm stupid. The only way I can justify my actions is, I need to run. Not just for maintenance, but for my mental health. Running is my time. And I run alone. I can run with someone, but I like to run alone. Helps me organize my thoughts and is my best therapy, hands down!
• My physio is going well. I definitely have better movement in my neck. As soon as that's sorted, we get to move onto my rotator cuff. And once that's done, back to the gym I go. I'll use some machines again, but I think I'm gonna focus on the pilates and yoga more. A stronger core means I won't tire as quickly during runs, which means I can hold my form longer, which means I can run pain free longer. My toes will cramp earlier if I tire quickly. Now I just have to figure out how I'll fit class times into my already busy schedule. 
• Health and fitness is work. Weight loss and maintenance is work. Preparing, scheduling, executing, it's all work. It's still worth it though. Truth is I never feel badly after completing a workout or eating a good meal. But the mental anguish I feel from skipping a run or eating off my plan can be soul breaking and something I try to avoid at all costs. In the end, it's just not worth it to me. And something I have learned over the past few years? I am worth all the effort I put into my lifestyle. Cheers:-)

The post about fallen soldiers, RIP Corporal Nathan Cirillo & Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent

Saluting our nation's fallen soldier as he returns home to Hamilton, Ontario.

• It's been a tough week for our great country. The events that unfolded last week has left us speechless and in shock. Our nation is in mourning. We lost two Canadian soldiers in what appears to be terrorist attacks. Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent was run down in Quebec a eight days ago, and two days later Corporal Nathan Cirillo was shot down at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa while standing guard. Corporal Cirillo was from Hamilton.
• Friday morning I took my regular running route in the east end of Hamilton. I normally run this route 2x per week. As I ran down a street I frequent regularly, I noticed Canadian flags draped on the light posts. I figured I was in a very patriotic stretch of neighbourhood, considering what had just happened. Then I saw the flowers and balloons and noticed the police cars and realized where I was. I was running by Cpl. Cirillo's family home. It was before dawn and the neighborhood was very quiet. Just me and the two police cars. I recognized the house from pictures on the internet. Such a stab of pain to my heart. I could not even imagine the pain and despair the people in that house were feeling. I continued my run lost in thought.
• I thought about a time 3 years ago when I was visiting my family in Scarborough. Just after we left on a Sunday evening in the summer to head home, we noticed a crowd of people on the 401 McCowan Road overpass. They were holding Canadian flags and there were emergency vehicles parked there as well. It took me a moment to figure out what was happening. One of our fallen soldiers was returning from Afghanistan and taking the trip from CFB Trenton to the coroner's office in central Toronto. I remember looking back at Julien and feeling such a stab of pain, just imagining what that young soldier's mother must have felt like. One of the images of this past week that was hardest for me to see, was Cpl. Cirillo's mother following her son's casket from the funeral home in Ottawa to the hearse which would bring him home to Hamilton along the Highway of Heroes. 
• On Friday night, my small family walked to the foot of our street in Hamilton to watch the motorcade that transported Cpl. Cirillo to the funeral home where he would rest in state less than a kilometer from my home. It was an incredibly somber moment. So many unanswerable questions from a 7-year-old. And it was quiet. Hundreds of people lined the streets with Canadian flags, but it was so quiet. A Hamilton fire truck waited with it's lights flashing. As the procession passed the firefighters saluted and applause broke out. Not the joyful applause of a celebration, but sad applause, if you can imagine that. No one spoke. And once the motorcade passed, the crowd dispersed and everyone walked away with heavy hearts.
• A difficult time for sure. For Canada, for the world. Our pain is felt internationally and the world is in disbelief right along with us. I still shake my head over these unbelievable events. Today Cpl. Cirillo was laid to rest in a full regimental funeral service in Hamilton. Looking at the press pictures just now, my heart is again in shreds seeing the pain and despair on his mother's face. This blog has taken me days to write because I wasn't sure if I could accurately express my feelings. The events of last week has changed our country forever. God bless the Cirillo and Vincent families. God bless us all.

The post with a bunch of collages

My runs from Sunday to Sunday...

• So this is going to be a mostly picture post with a bullet point to explain the collages. This was my week. Above are my runs from Sunday to Sunday. Sixty five kilometers in total. I'm running exclusively again and loving it. My pace sucked this week, but I'm just rolling with it and enjoying running in this much cooler fall weather. My aches and pains are being dealt with at physio and bottom line is, I need to strengthen my core to be a more efficient runner. That is where the gym comes in. Once my neck and rotator cuff are sorted, I'm going to start taking yoga and pilates classes. Should be fun, and comical if nothing else.

Sunroof selfies.

• Still in therapy. Going pretty well. Talking about your self image and how much you love yourself can be boring shit sometimes. I still heed the advice of my first therapist and take a lot of pictures. Once in a while I get negative comments via Twitter or my blog. Very few, but they always centre around me being in love with myself. Truth is, I'm trying real hard to love myself the way I should and unless you've been morbidly obese your entire adult life then lost a ton of weight, it's hard to understand. I don't take the comments too much to heart and I know that the people who leave them truly don't understand what the mind goes through when you lose the equivalent of an adult woman. I also need to take the pictures to keep myself in check. And as Sarah, loser of 200 pounds and maintainer of 10 years said, pictures help us maintain. The brain can better process a body it gets to see! One hundred percent truth! And I've mastered the selfie. An important skill to have.

Winetime

• On Twitter I do a little feature called #winetime. It's something fun I started back in the spring. I don't do #winetime everyday because I don't drink everyday. Usually Friday to Sunday and maybe once or twice during the week. Usually once. Got an extra day in last week due to Thanksgiving. I get pictures back and #cheers from around the world. And I love my red wine. One of the extras I allow myself on Paleo because I still have to live.  And wine comes from grapes...which are Paleo. Reaching? Nah:-)

Food from the week

• This week in food was not great. I did make some awesome curried chicken and some delicious turkey soup. I also broke my rule of not eating in my car and got pepperoni sticks and cashews (which was my lunch) during a long driving day because I didn't plan ahead and pack healthy snacks. And I ate out for lunch when I wasn't with a client which is something I try to avoid as well. I have to eat out with clients as part of my job, but when I don't have client meetings, I should be bringing my lunch. And I'm not eating enough. I'm going long stretches of not eating and skipping meals which is counter productive. I need fuel to run and perhaps this is why I'm struggling a lot? I vow to have a better eating week and to eat more frequently throughout the day.

Shopping and a party.

• Julien had his friend's party on the weekend. He was so excited. We did a halloween theme and four of his guests were from the neighborhood. I'm just so happy he has friends that he can play with on our street. Makes me know that even though my house is a decorator's nightmare right now, we definitely made the right choice by moving. And I found a pair of Tommy Hilfiger boots at Winners I love. But $145? Goes against all my thrifty shopping rules. It's all good, I have the photo to lust after. 
• That's all I got for you right now. I have some correspondence I am behind in...again, and blog reading to catch up on as well. I leave you with my Transformation Tuesday post from last week. Have a blessed and safe week:-)

Transformation Tuesday